SOAR Session 9

1.) What would probably happen if a long neuron had one continuous myelin sheath down the
length of the axon with no nodes of Ranvier?
A. The action potential would be propagated nearly instantaneously to the synapse.
B. There could be no action potential generated at the axon hillock.
C. The signal would fade because it is not renewed by the opening of more sodium channels.
D. None of the above could happen.
2.) Motor neurons release the neurotransmitter acetylcholine (ACh) and acetylcholinesterase
degrades ACh in the synapse. If a neurophysiologist applies onchidal (a naturally occurring
acetylcholinesterase inhibitor produced by the mollusk Onchidella binneyi) to a synapse, what
would you expect to happen?
A. paralysis of muscle tissue
B. gradual loss of resting potential
C. convulsions due to constant muscle stimulation
D. decrease in the frequency of action potentials
E. no effect
3.) If you experimentally increase the concentration of Na+ outside a cell while maintaining other
ion concentrations as they were, what would happen to the cell's membrane potential?
A. The membrane potential would decrease.
B. The membrane potential would increase.
C. The membrane potential would be unaffected.
D. The answer depends on the thermodynamic potential.
4.) If a portion of the pancreas is surgically removed from a rat and the rat subsequently loses
its appetite, one explanation is that the removed portion contains cells that secrete a chemical
signal that somehow stimulates appetite. Given this scenario, what type of chemical signaling is
occurring?
A. Autocrine
B. Paracrine
C. Endocrine
D. Neuroendocrine
5.) Polypeptides can have which of the following types of effects?
A. Autocrine
B. Paracrine
C. Endocrine
D. all of the above
6. All of the following are examples of amplification of a hormone signal except _____.
A. epinephrine initiates an enzyme cascade
B. steroids bind hormone-response elements in the cell and initiate gene transcription
C. 0.09 mg of growth hormone leads to a 10,000-mg weight gain in a cow
D. different cell types have different receptors capable of binding the same hormone